


Let Loose Your Glow (I Feel Life For the Very First Time)

by sweeterthankarma



Category: Motherland: Fort Salem (TV)
Genre: Bisexual Tally Craven, Character Study, Gen, LGBTQ Themes, Mentions of Raelle Collar/Scylla Ramshorn, S1E2: My Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:49:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23724112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweeterthankarma/pseuds/sweeterthankarma
Summary: Tally’s only ever been drunk a few times, and never like this. Nothing is bad, not right now. Not here. Not with her people.
Comments: 20
Kudos: 57





	Let Loose Your Glow (I Feel Life For the Very First Time)

**Author's Note:**

> After watching 1x02 and seeing how giddy Tally was when Scylla was around and referred to as Raelle's girlfriend, I had to write a little introspection on her!
> 
> Title comes from the song "Technicolour Beat" by Oh Wonder.

Tally’s only ever been drunk a few times, and never like this.

The room is loud, full. Safe. She feels happy, so happy that she finds herself smiling at nothing— at the way the heat trickles on through the radiator with the slightest bump and hum, a sound that now has become almost familiar; at the sight of the tips of her fingernails brushing against the sturdy wooden floor beneath her crossed ankles. The taste of distilled vodka stays on her tongue no matter how much fruit punch she drinks down after to remedy it, but it’s not bad. Nothing is bad, not right now. Not here. Not with her people.

Sure, Raelle and Abigail don’t love each other, and the former doesn’t talk much, but Tally gets it. They’re not going to be instant friends, but she has faith that they’ll get there. Every day just brings them closer.

Besides, Raelle’s in love. That’s an all-consuming thing, a valid distraction, and Tally can’t fault her. Not that she’s ever felt it herself, but she’s spent enough time dreaming, read enough romance novels and put herself in the girl’s place— or sometimes the boy’s if the girl was more likable, more descriptive and kind— to basically be a seasoned dater, even if only in her mind. She likes to think she’s got all the preparation she needs through literature, cinema, and observation alone, and she hopes her observations don't fail her when her opportunity at love finally comes around. 

Tally feels like it’ll come soon. Surrounded by pretty girls, all dedicated to the same thing she is, all blessed with the same powers— Tally thinks her chances are pretty good. Beltane’s coming up soon, too, and she’s already dreaming of it. She’s got more than enough windows of opportunity open and available, ready for her to jump through, and she’s more than willing to make the strides. 

Tally looks up at Raelle, sees her distracted gaze flick to the door and back. She sips from her cup slow and doesn’t meet Tally’s eyes for more than a second. 

She doesn’t have to say anything for Tally to know. She’s hoping Scylla will show up. 

Tally can’t blame her. She almost says that out loud, reaching past the point of _very tipsy_ and into something further, but Glory says something that makes another girl laugh— Tally forgets her name, is she the worst for that? She’s pretty too, damn it, so she should know— and she laughs too, just because it’s Glory and Glory’s always funny and she’s so, so happy that she’s here. 

She’s home.

The thing is, Tally liked Scylla from the moment she saw her, though. It’s true, but she won’t say it aloud, not without more drinks in her system and hopefully not even then, because that’d be weird and maybe overstepping and definitely off-putting. She thinks that, knows its only sensible, and the last thing she wants to do is jeopardize her slowly budding friendship with Raelle— but then Abigail says Scylla’s name and calls her Raelle’s girlfriend and Tally’s squealing, inhibitions be damned, almost knocking over the half empty alcohol bottle in her excitement. She’s the one to earn a laugh from Glory this time, and the other girl. 

“Oh. My. Goddess! Are we officially saying ‘girlfriend?’”

Raelle flushes, bites her lip and reluctantly stares Tally down. Tally beams, all teeth. She thinks Raelle should be the one so happy when she has a girlfriend like Scylla to call her own. 

“I...really...like her,” Tally announces, voice just hushed enough to make it sound like she’s telling a secret. And maybe she is; there’s something, just a hint of feeling, in her voice that she hopes Raelle doesn’t pick up on. Tally’s not jealous, per say, but she’s not blind either: Scylla’s pretty. Tall and strong and undemanding in her presence, but still, when she was around, Tally noticed. How couldn’t she? How couldn’t anyone?

That’s how Tally feels about most girls, like they’re impossible to ignore, to not be amazed by. At home— at her _old_ home— she didn’t know anyone who liked girls. Well, anyone that wasn’t a boy. She knew doing so wasn’t bad or wrong or even worth a second thought, but she still found herself feeling alone in it, in the things that she wanted. And the thing is, Tally is the kind of person who just _wants._

If she’s being embarrassingly honest, Scylla was probably the fifteenth girl at Fort Salem that had caught her eye. It meant nothing other than adding another face to the portfolio that she keeps locked away in her mind, labeled in all caps and swirly font: “my type.” 

Tally is hopeless and knows it, embraces that she’s the kind of romantic who has bunches of crushes at a time, sees possibility in so many people whether or not she acts upon it or not— and the answer is almost always _not,_ merely because she felt like her entire life was building up for this moment. To be here. To be successful. To be a hero. 

Tally’s been thinking about telling Raelle about this though, about herself. About how automatically comforted she felt by knowing her, by getting to know her. She thinks it’s a little too soon, though. Maybe once she’s finally finished putting all her decorations up, or when Abigail can say something to Raelle without a smidge of superiority. 

A part of Tally thinks she doesn’t even have to tell Raelle, either. She’s so intuitive, so sage; she probably already knows, already senses the sameness in Tally. The _queerness,_ Tally’s heard people call it. She likes that word. It feels nice in her head, on the edge of her tongue. 

Raelle smiles down at Tally from her perch against the wall, _really_ smiles this time. 

“Me too, Tal,” she says.

Yeah, Raelle probably knows. 

Tally grins back. Her chest feels light and airy. She’s so happy. She loves this life. She loves Raelle, loves the fire in her soul, the determination in the way she moves and talks and lives. She’s meant to be here, whether she recognizes it yet or not, to be on the right side of history. 

They all are. 

That truth is what drives Tally to her feet, raising her bottle and proclaiming her affections. All she feels is honor, and when she looks around, vision just a little drunk-blurry, she sees her friends, her unit, and she feels the possibilities of what they can do brimming, practically vibrating in the air around them. 

This is who she is. Honest, brazen, unwavering. Unashamed of her ambitions and intricacies. She’s a soldier. A witch. 

They salute with her, cheer and tap bottles against red Solo cups and play their music loud. Tally sings along, doesn’t care if she’s out of tune. She grins when she sees everyone else doing so too, even Raelle.

This is only the beginning. The whole world is at her fingertips, and she’s going to reach for it: for what she wants, for who she wants, for who she wants to be— and she’s excited to do it. 

**Author's Note:**

> I headcanon pretty much every character in this show as queer in some capacity and definitely ship the 3 main ladies with each other in a variety of ways— Tally/Glory? Adorable. Tally/Abigail? Hell yeah. Raelle/Abigail? Yes please. Tally/Raelle? Sure. Tally/Abigail/Raelle? God tier. This show is just so fun and I can't wait to write more for it! 
> 
> Feel free to send requests or just say hi in the comments or at my tumblr blog under the same username, sweeterthankarma!


End file.
